Empire of the Sun is one of the bands on the Artist Voice roster.Source: News Limited

REBECCA Young, 25, works as a booking agent for Artist Voice, a Sydney-based agency that manages music tours and festival appearances for a range of Australian and international acts including Matt Corby, The Temper Trap, Empire of the Sun, and Kimbra.

She has been in her role for over two years, after starting with an internship in the industry. Her job involves managing live tours for bands, booking venues and scouting for new talent to sign. Here, she tells us about a typical day at work.

"I usually arrive at the office between 8.30 - 9am, having caught up on my emails on the train. A lot of our bands are based overseas, or have managers based overseas, so the emails don't stop overnight! The first hour or so at work involves going through emails and prioritising tasks for that day."

"Throughout the day I work on various things - issuing promoters with booking contracts, answering the phone, and responding to the never-ending stream of emails - so multi-tasking is a good skill to have. I also have regular meetings with managers and labels throughout the week to strategize touring cycles and planning."

Rebecca Young has worked as a booking agent for two and a half years after starting with an internship in the music industry. Picture: Artist Voice.Source: Supplied

"Today I began booking a tour for a Brisbane act, which involves emailing and calling venues nationally to put dates on hold. November is already a busy period so I have to do some juggling to get the desired run."

"Last week we had six bands announce national tours for August/September, so the next few weeks will involve liaising with managers, labels and publicists about promoting and marketing the tours.

"This morning I am working on the marketing for a particular tour. I check up on some Facebook ads I have created, send out posters to the venues they are playing, book in street press advertising and book an online campaign with a music blog."

Ms Young travels with her job, having recently gone to a music conference in Darwin and often heads to other cities to check out new bands. This weekend their entire office is heading to Splendour in the Grass in Byron Bay.

She said Oasis-style bust ups are rare in the music industry these days with most of their acts being professional to work with. The amount bands earn varies hugely between top tier acts who can support themselves to other junior bands who are just starting out.

"Next we discuss plans for a band who are releasing a new album early next year. It's only July, but for many acts we have to plan six to 12 months out to work around their overseas touring schedules. I start mapping out potential festivals and tour dates for the act. We have also just received an offer for them to support a high profile international band who are touring later this year, and I am in the process of negotiating an acceptable fee with the promoter."

New Zealand artist Kimbra is also on their talent roster. Picture: Rebecca Young.Source: News Limited

"I eat lunch at my desk most days while catching up on music news on local and international blogs. In the afternoon we receive pre-sale reports which help us keep track of which shows are selling well, and which need work. After sending the reports I reassess which shows need more marketing attention and discuss this with everyone associated with the show."

"It's festival pitching time, since most of the summer festivals are starting to finalise their line-ups. I chase up a few promoters and send them information on each band I have submitted for that festival. Once we receive an offer, I'll speak to the manager about whether we are happy with the fee. If not, I'll aim to negotiate a higher fee, or pass on the offer completely."

Ms Young was hired as a junior agent to bring new acts onto the company roster so spends a lot of time researching and listening to new music. She also tries to see as many live shows as possible and loves signing new bands and watching their profile grow.

"This is one of my favourite aspects of the job - hunting for new talent! Occasionally we find a band and know immediately that we want to sign them. Other new acts may show potential but need development, and we have to be able to pick up on whether they might be the "next big thing" right from the beginning."

"We also play music in the office constantly, anything from local radio to UK radio, Spotify playlists or new albums. Everyone has different taste so we listen to a range of acts."

Watching acts they represent like The Rubens (pictured) and checking out new talent is an important part of the job. Picture: Rebecca Young.Source: Supplied

"I usually finish work around 6:30-7pm and sometimes later if there is a lot happening. I attend various gigs each week, checking out bands that we represent, international touring acts and new acts we are looking at."

Next week we have a couple of "listening parties" which are events organised by labels for acts who are releasing new albums. Some nights I will go to several different venues in one night to check out various bands. I really enjoy this aspect of the job but it does mean the occasional late night!"

Do you have an interesting job you'd like to tell us about? Email victoria.craw@news.com.au or continue the conversation on Twitter @Victoria - Craw, @newscomauHQ.

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